


barista fights

by EJwrites



Series: Tumblr Is A Hellish Landscape Not Fit For Fic Writers [18]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Meet-Cute, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 15:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11084517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EJwrites/pseuds/EJwrites
Summary: “You’re the cute and quiet customer that frequents the coffee shop where I’m a barista and also where my rival barista works and we’re both fighting for your attention in increasingly creative and inconspicuous ways” AU for the ot3? :) - ANONYMOUSshay and cosima work and coffee bean and starbucks respectively.  delphine moves to canada and needs to fuel her coffee needs.  she meets two cute baristas after recently discovering that she is bisexual.  they grow closer and closer as customer/employees.  then, delphine's birthday rolls around and cosima can't let her spend it alone.





	barista fights

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt me!!](%E2%80%9Cwww.coshayphinelove.tumblr.com/tagged/prompt-me%22)

Cosima watched out the huge front windows of the Starbucks that she was imprisoned in for thirty hours a week.  It was surprisingly slow for a Tuesday morning.  

Through the window of the Coffee Bean across the street she saw Shay doing some foam art for a little kid who stood on their tiptoes to watch over the counter.  The playful competitiveness mixed with arousal that she felt whenever she saw her “rival” was dulled by affection.  

Their rivalry was a joke at best and petty competition between friends at worst.  It all started seven years ago.  The managers of their stores had both worked and a Dunkin Donuts a few blocks over.  They had competed so fiercely for the title of Assistant Manager that both had been fired.  They had gotten hired as managers across the street from each other and constantly fought for both employees and customers.  

Shay had worked at the Starbucks with Cosima for a while, playfully having little competitions to see who was the better barista and making out in the stock room.  She had left because Coffee Bean was more flexible with their hours and used more organic ingredients, something she was very passionate about. Cosima stayed at Starbucks because they payed better, something she was very passionate about.  Sarah, the Starbucks manager, had been furious.  Rachel, the Coffee Bean manager, had been smug.  

They had continued their casual hookups, joking about the star-crossed lovers aspect to it.

Cosima perked up as the door swung open.  A tall, gorgeous blonde woman in a sleek suit that probably cost more than all of Cosima’s textbooks combined walked up to the counter.

“Hi!” Cosima said with actual enthusiasm for once, “Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get for you?”  Cosima thought to herself that if every customer were a bombshell like this she would make employee of the month.

“Hello,” the woman smiled.  She ordered politely with a “Can I please?”

“Of course,” Cosima smirked as she punched in the buttons.  “Can I please get your name?” she knew she was flirting and she knew she was being way too obvious.  She pulled out her Sharpie and continued anyway.

“Delphine,” she smiled.  Possibly into it… Huh…  That was lucky.

“Hmm, Delphine,” Cosima tried out as she wrote it on the cup along with the order.  She put a little heart next to it.  “I’ll have it ready for you in a couple minutes.”

“Thank you so much,” Delphine smiled.  Her cheeks were red but Cosima couldn’t remember if she had looked like that when she came in or not.  

She puttered around behind the counter going slow and being very careful not to make a fool out of herself.  When it came time to put the milk in, she brought the cup over to the pick-up part of the counter.  “Hey, Delphine.  Come check this out.”

Delphine looked up from her phone and smiled.  She came closer.

“Watch this,” Cosima bit her lip and drew an outline of a butterfly on the top of Delphine’s coffee.

“That’s incredible!” Delphine exclaimed as she watched the milk stir and settle itself with wonder.  “How do you do that?”

“Tricks of the trade,” she smirked and pushed her glasses back up.  She put the lid and the cardboard sleeve on in a smooth motion and handed the cup to Delphine.

“Thank you so much euh…” she peered around Cosima’s arm to look for her name tag, “Cos-ima?” she tilted her head in question.

“Cosima,” she corrected with a smile.

“Cosima,” Delphine tried it out.

She nodded.  “You have a fantastic day.  Enjoy your butterfly coffee.”

Delphine grinned.  “I will.”  She left as quietly as she came, blushing this time.

“Shoulda gave her your number, stupid,” Tony, the other barista on Tuesday’s said as he tied his apron around his waist.

Cosima smiled as Delphine’s car pulled out of the parking lot.  “She’ll be back.” 

* * *

Delphine looked over the Starbucks that she had gone to yesterday wistfully.  She had wanted to see Cosima again, but unfortunately it was her day to pick up the coffee for the weekly meeting.  The order was standing so all she had to do was say where she was bringing it to and they would make it.

“Hi, welcome to Coffee Bean!” the cashier chirped from behind the counter.  Oh, no.  She was cute, too.  Tiny, blonde, with cute little dimples.   

This newly discovered bisexuality thing was really starting to be a hassle.  Before, she could just go about her life.  Attractive men finding her attractive wasn’t intimidating at all, in fact it made a lot of things easier.  Pretty girls flirting with her, or even just talking to her, make her tongue feel heavy and her brain forget English.  “Uhh,” she stuttered.  She shook herself, “I’m with the, uh… DYAD?  Apparently we have a system set up?”

“Right!  I was wondering when someone would show up.”  The cute cashier tapped one of her coworkers on the shoulder to get him to take over the register and went about making six coffees.  “So I haven’t seen you pick up this order before.  Are you new?”

Delphine nodded, then realized that her back was turned and couldn’t see it.  “Yes,” she responded audibly.  “It’s been almost a month.”

The barista looked over her shoulder and grinned, “Congrats.  Did you move all the way from France?  Or have you been here for a while?”

Fear gripped Delphine’s spine, “How did you-”  She snorted, a little unattractively at herself, “The accent.”  She shook her head.

“It’s cute,” the barista assured her.

Delphine blushed.  “Yes.  I moved here for this job.”

The barista slid the coffees over in their cardboard trays.  “Well, bienvenue to Canada.  And here is your coffee.”

“Wow, that was fast.  Thank you.”

She held her hand out for a shake.  “Shay.”

Delphine took her hand.  “Delphine.”

“You’re welcome, Delphine.  I look forward to seeing you in approximately,” she looked down at the coffees, “Five weeks.”

Delphine giggled and blushed further.  “Me too.”  She realized that she’d just said that she’d was looking forward to seeing herself.  “I mean you as well!  Or… Comment dit-on… I meant that I am…” she stopped herself from word-vomiting to watch as Shay giggled.

“You know, native English speakers have trouble with that one too,” Shay laughed.

Delphine breathed a sigh of relief.  “That’s good to know.”

Shay smiled up at her.  “You have a good day, Delphine.  Please be careful with all that coffee.”

“Thank you.  I will try.”  She maneuvered the trays in her hands and walked out of the store with as much dignity as one can muster with six coffees in hand.

Delphine wondered to herself on her way to work if all baristas in Toronto were this cute or if she just had the privilege of running into two in a row.

* * *

“Decided to come crawling back, huh?” Cosima teased as Delphine entered the shop.

Delphine’s face screwed into the most adorable look of confusion.

Cosima laughed.  “I just happened to look up yesterday when you walked into that…” she looked around, “other place…” she said darkly, avoiding the name.  “I just needed to tease you a little bit.”  It wasn’t like she had been watching the window waiting for Delphine’s car to pull into the lot like a lonely puppy.  

“Oh!” Delphine laughed.  “I had to pick up an order for work.  They have a standing thing.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t by choice that you went there.”

“Well, not mine.”

They grinned at each other.  “Can I get you anything?” Cosima asked, suddenly remembering her job.  “Same thing as last time?”

“Yes, please.  Do you remember?”

“Of course,” Cosima smirked.  She punched the numbers on the register, wrote everything on the cup, and went about making her order.

“Is that another trick of the trade?”

“What?”

“Remembering orders for one customer after two days.”  Her tone suggested that she knew what Cosima was doing.

Cosima blushed.  “Well, you know.  Some things are just,” she slipped the cardboard sleeve on.  She had prepared it yesterday with her number on it.  “Unforgettable.”

Their fingers brushed as they traded the coffee.  Delphine giggled.  She didn’t look at the cup, which was kind of a downer, but her eyes stayed locked with Cosima’s.

Tony cleared his throat and greeted the next customer, shattering the moment. 

Delphine looked down.  “I’ll see you later,” she smiled shyly.

“Have a wonderful day,” Cosima said in the same tone. 

* * *

They continued this dance.  Either Delphine lost the sleeve with her number or she was content to just flirt.  Both options were okay with Cosima.

What had really happened was Delphine had seen the number, had a small anxiety attack, took a picture, didn’t save her as a contact for some reason, and threw the sleeve away.  Yes, in theory she wanted to date a girl.  In practice, it scared her witless.  She wasn’t ready.  

Either Cosima didn’t mind or she just gave her number out to all the girls she ever served.  She didn’t know if either option made her sad or not.

Then in one of her meetings it came up that she was the only one who passed the Coffee Bean on her way to work.  So now it was exclusively her job to pick it up.

Shay greeted her today with a, “Two weeks in a row?”

“Apparently, me getting it is the most efficient,” she shrugged.

“Well, that sucks for your morning routine then, huh?”

“I guess.  It’s not so bad, I get to see you.  You’re very good at your job, so it’s very convenient.”

Shay laughed.  “I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”

“What?” Delphine asked, embarrassment coloring her cheeks.  She hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable but it seemed she had.  What was she thinking?  To Shay she was just another customer.

“That I’m so good at this job.  It’s supposed to be just a temporary thing,” she was still chuckling, unaware that Delphine was having a crisis.

“Oh,” she sighed, relieved that she hadn’t offended her.  “Well, it just shows that you learn and master skills really easily.”

Shay laughed again, “Would you be willing to write my resume?  I could use that kind of spin.”

Delphine shrugged, “I could if you really needed me to.”

Shay slid the two trays of coffee over.  “I might just have to take you up on that.”

Delphine blushed.  Shay wanted to spend time with her outside of the Coffee Bean?  What did she do to fool into thinking she was cool?

“Be careful!” Shay called as Delphine waddled away with her coffee.

“I try!” Delphine called back.

Delphine smiled to herself all the way to work.  Had she made a friend? 

* * *

Delphine woke up on December twenty first to a few texts from her family wishing her a happy birthday.  There were a few Facebook messages to sift through, but altogether it was quiet.  She preferred it that way.

When she made it into the Starbucks and saw one of her two favorite people in Canada she grinned.

“Bon matin, Cosima!” she called, the French she usually carefully kept herself from speaking slipping out.

“Good morning to you too!  You’re pretty cheerful for a Wednesday morning.”

Delphine giggled.

“The usual?” Cosima asked, picking up on Delphine’s giddiness.

“Yes.  And,” she added on a whim, “Can I have a croissant as well?”

“Of course!  Is it some kind of special occasion?” she asked and hit the final button.  She moved to grab the ingredients.

Delphine flushed.  “It’s my birthday,” she admitted in a hush.

“Delphine!” Cosima exclaimed.  She turned around and grinned at her, “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you,” she muttered and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I had no idea!” she resumed her coffee making, “Otherwise I would have prepared something special.”

“No!” Delphine laughed, “I would not have accepted it.”

“Alright…  Well at least tell me that you’re having a wild basher tonight.”

“Sorry…” she didn’t know why she was apologizing, but she didn’t want Cosima to feel bad.

“What?  Why not?”  Cosima seemed to be actually offended that nobody was going to take her out.

“I don’t really know anyone here yet.”

“Oh, come on!  Nobody wants to take you out for your birthday?” Cosima asked, seemingly scandalized.

Delphine shrugged.

“Well.  That’s it.  I’m taking you out.  What are you doing Friday?”

“No, Cosima.  I can’t ask you to -”

“You’re not.  I’m offering.”  Cosima brought the finished coffee to the counter.  “Nobody should skip over their birthday because all their friends live across the ocean.”

Delphine’s heart twinged.  It was nice to know that someone cared even if she really didn’t like celebrating her birthday.  “Okay.”  She reached into her purse and pulled out a card.  “Here is my number.”

“Mmm.  Fancy schmancy.”  They shared a giggle.  “I’ll text you my plans.  Bring as many people as you would like.”

“Okay.”  

Delphine was rooted to the spot, staring into Cosima’s kind face.  Was there more than acquaintance-ship in her eyes?  Was it just friendship?  Or was she wishing so hard that her brain was making things up where there wasn’t anything?

“Don’t you have to get to work?” Cosima nudged her back to reality.  

“Euh.. Yes,” Delphine was jarred out of her sexuality related crisis.  “Thank you,” she lifted her coffee, “For this.  And the party.”

“Well,” Cosima chuckled, “Half of it is my job, half of it is my pleasure.”

Delphine grinned.  She ducked out of the shop before she flung herself over the counter and threw caution to the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> may or may not bump up the rating. depends on where i decide to take this.


End file.
